Providing clinical and pro bono opportunities to Harvard Law School students

Former HLS clinical student John Bennett recently launched a Kickstarter project to fund Zen of 180, an LSAT preparation product that provides free explanations to LSAT questions. The project comes out of Zen Way Inc, Bennett’s education technology startup committed to democratizing access to higher education. Zen Way is a 2013 Harvard University President’s Challenge finalist at the Harvard Innovation Lab.

Bennett, who worked at the Transactional Law Clinics while a student at HLS, found his clinical experience to be an asset when he began Zen Way.

My work with TLC has proven surprisingly helpful in running my business, especially in how to interface with our legal counsel and business consultants.

TLC helped me know which legal resources to use at Harvard, and the various services those groups could offer us. We used HLEP (Harvard Law Entrepreneurship Project) to do some initial patent research for us, and have been at the i-lab since it opened to student teams.

Mainly, though, TLC helped me the most in thinking through the intellectual property issues that my business has; the clients I worked with presented challenging questions on patent ownership, creative commons licensing for online content, and even how to market a product that is not protectable under any IP regime.

Watch as Bennett explains Zen of 180 in the Kickstarter video above, or visit the campaign page to learn more about the project.

Group photo of the HLS Advocates for Human Rights.
Advocates is a place for students to work on semester and year-long projects on various human rights topics. Their projects are designed and led by the students themselves under the supervision of an attorney from a partner organization who works in the field. These student-initiated projects give students a chance to work on the human rights issues they are most passionate about.

Judicial Process in Trial Courts Clinic at Judge Cratsley’s house for dinner after the prison tour

Kim Quarantello, a member of HIRC’s Immigration Response Initiative, speaking at a Cambridge City Council meeting.

Bonnie on a fact-finding mission in Iraq.

Peter Carfagna (left) and Gia Velasquez J.D. ’18 (right)

Cover photo of the report “Underserved: How the VA wrongfully excludes veterans with Bad Paper” produced by the Veterans Legal Clinic

Cover Photo of the report ” Securing Status: Syrian refugees and the documentation of legal status, identity, and family relationships in Jordan” produced by the International Human Rights Clinic and Norwegian Refugee Council Jordan

Toby Merrill, right, and Eileen Connor, pose for a portrait at Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School in Jamaica Plan, MA, January 5, 2017. They are lawyers representing the students at the Harvard Law School Project on Predatory Student Lending.
Photo by Shiho Fukada for The New York Times

Credit: Tom Fitzsimmons
Lecturer on Law Rachel Viscomi ’01 (left) moderated the day’s first panel, “Dispute Systems Design: Expanding Horizons.” Panelists included Seanan Fong, HDS ’16, consultant and founder of Cylinder Project and a solo ombudsman to a major tech company; Stacie Nicole Smith, senior mediator and director of Workable Peace at the Consensus Building Institute; Stephan Sonnenberg ’06, faculty Member and clinic expert at the Jigme Singye Wangchuck School of Law in Bhutan; and (not pictured) Joseph B. (Josh) Stulberg, Michael E. Moritz Chair in Alternative Dispute Resolution at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

Credit: Heratch Photography
“While flying air missions in Afghanistan, Anne Stark said her greatest concern was protecting soldiers on the ground. As a student at Harvard Law School, she sees yet another way to protect those who have served their country.”
Taken from the Harvard Law Today Article entitled “Using law to protect veterans”

Welcome

The Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs at Harvard Law School is here to help students create the most positive clinical and pro bono experience possible. Stay tuned for updates, tips, and reminders. Please don't hesitate to contact us or drop by!

If there's something you’d like to share with the HLS clinical community, please send a tip to clinical@law.harvard.edu.